Netflix’s latest price hike: Well, this is a first

We’re getting used to Netflix hiking its prices on a regular basis, and this time, it’s raising the price on nearly all its plans, including a first-ever price increase for Netflix’s newest tier. 

Starting now, Netflix Standard with ads will cost new subscribers $7.99 a month in the U.S., a buck-a-month increase over its previous $6.99/month level, according to Deadline. This is the first time Netflix’s Standard with ads plan has gotten a price hike.

That’s not all. The ad-free Standard plan is also getting a price hike to $17.99 a month, up from $15.49 a month, while the 4K-enabled Premium plan will now be a whopping $24.99/month, a $2-a-month increase over the tier’s former $22.99/month price. 

The only Netflix plan that isn’t going up is Netflix’s “extra member” offering, which lets you share your account with someone outside your household for $6.99 a month, Deadline notes.

The last time Netflix raised U.S. subscription prices was in October 2023, when it hiked Premium prices to $22.99 a month (a $3-a-month increase) but left its Standard and Standard with ads plans alone. 

Besides the U.S., Netflix is also raising prices in Canada, Portugal, and Argentina, according to Deadline. 

Originally called “Basic with ads,” Netflix rolled out its Standard with ads tier back in 2022, as the streamer was struggling to come back from a spate of subscriber losses earlier that year. 

The launch price for Standard with ads was $6.99 a month, a bargain compared to the rapidly increasing prices of its ad-free tiers, particularly the Premium plan. 

While today’s price increase for Standard with ads marks the first price hike for the plan, it surely won’t be the last. 

Netflix’s regular price increases might be grating for subscribers, but Netflix itself is making a killing. 

Reporting its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings on Tuesday, Netflix said it had snared a record number of subscribers for the period, thanks in no small part to the new season of Squid Game, as noted by Bloomberg. 

Also helping Netflix’s bottom line is the streamer’s crackdown on password sharing, which has been so successful that it’s being copied by Netflix’s biggest competitors, including Disney+ and Max.